


A Sure Bet

by babyblueglasses



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Ghosts, Mischief, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Supernatural Elements, frostiron-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 21:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3265442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyblueglasses/pseuds/babyblueglasses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In attempt to help Clint cope with the alleged ghost in his apartment, Natasha, Steve, Bruce, and Tony take him to a shop that might have answers. Tony's confident that it's all superstition, up until an unusual shop owner decides to have a little fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sure Bet

“This is a stupid idea and you know it,” Clint said. He kept the car door open as he stood on the weathered asphalt. Whether it was for his own retreat or to encourage the others back inside was up for debate. 

“Come on,” Natasha said. Steve’s hand lingered on the shop door as he looked back over his shoulder. “What is the worst that could happen? At least this way you might get an answer. Quit being such a baby.” 

Steve glanced at Natasha, but she was too busy staring down Clint to notice. He slammed the car door shut when Tony started walking towards him. “I’ve seen the travel channel, okay? This is a bad idea,” Clint said. 

Tony rolled his eyes. “They don’t sell ghosts here,” he said. He grabbed Clint’s shoulder and prodded him towards the door. Clint’s feet planted to the ground. “You’re the one that says it’s a ghost,” Tony said. “And since you don't want to listen to me, or _all of modern science_ , this is your last option.” 

“Bruce said that there’re parts of science we don’t understand,” Clint said, defending himself and making Bruce jump in the same instance. Tony didn’t look over at who he believed to be a very level headed friend. Bruce rubbed the back of his neck and didn’t say anything aloud. 

“He’s just being nice,” Tony said, prodding Clint towards the door. Clint crossed his arms. He let out a heavy sigh as his friends waited for his resolve to weaken. This was Natasha’s idea, technically, and no one was really sure whether she was serious about it or just came up with it for Clint. 

“Fine,” Clint said. He shrugged Tony off and walked up. “Maybe they’ll actually believe me,” he said as Steve held the door open for him. 

The bell on the door rang as they stepped inside. Wind chimes and various baubles hung from the ceiling, catching the light in their colored glass. The store was neatly arranged. Rows of low shelves held candles, herbs, stones, and incense. There were bookshelves and tables in one corner, and an assortment of statues in the other. A long counter was set up at the back of the shop, its glass case displaying boxes of tarot cards and other divining devices. 

Tony dug his hands into his pockets and cast one skeptical, condescending glance over the shop. Wisely, he refrained from saying anything. Clint had been going on about the ghost in their apartment building for months. Tony had assured him that it was nothing but shoddy wiring and a worn out heating system but Clint wouldn’t hear it. Bruce caught his eye, returning uncertainty before he pretended to be interested in a case of amulets. 

Natasha marched up to the counter. Clint cautiously followed her. Natasha leaned over the glass case. “Hello?” 

She spotted a silver bell on the counter. Her flat palm made contact, dinging. She adjusted her striped hoodie as it echoed through the shop. 

An ornate curtain was thrown aside, revealing a tall man. He was overtly slender, with distractingly high cheekbones and slick black hair down to his shoulders. His sharp, dark green eyes cut towards them with unnerving presence. “How may I help you?” 

Natasha leaned her elbows against the counter. She nodded her head towards Clint. “He’s got a ghost problem.” 

“Y-yeah,” Clint stammered. He summoned his courage with force and defiance, righting himself immediately. “There’s a ghost living in my apartment. It plays with my electronics, opens doors, talks at night…” Clint could hear Tony make a skeptical sound behind him and felt his cheeks flush ever so slightly. The man behind the counter, however, looked terribly unimpressed. 

“We are not the Ghost Busters,” he said, smoothing the olive collar of his shirt. Tony snorted. 

“Shut up,” Clint said, spinning around. 

“Aww, come on, even he thinks it’s not real,” Tony said. 

“I never said it wasn’t real,” the man said dully. “I just said that we are not exterminators.” He picked at an invisible fleck of dust on the counter. Clint stared at him for a few seconds, like he was waiting for something. He licked his lips. 

“So,” Clint said. “Do you maybe have…a book, or…something?” 

Before the man behind the counter could answer, someone else came out from behind the curtain. He was tall with broad shoulders and thick, braided blonde hair. He wore an apron over his clothes with a name tag that read _Thor_. “Loki,” he said. Loki’s shoulders dropped down as he leaned away from the counter. His face conceded no guilt, and it was clear that he found the other man’s reprimand unnecessary despite heeding it. 

“How may I help you?” Thor asked. Immediately Clint felt at ease. He repeated his problem, adding details he’d left out before, like the dreams he’d been having and the things he’d seen from the corner of his eye. Loki caught Natasha watching him, grinning like a cat. His lips pulled back unpleasantly. “Perhaps you would benefit from a cleansing ritual,” Thor said finally. “Loki is quite knowledgeable.” 

“I see no need to banish something that is doing no harm,” Loki said. He stared down the amused look on Natasha’s face. Thor sighed and opened a leaf in the counter to come out into the shop. 

“Never mind that,” Thor said, guiding Clint over to the book section. 

“Loki, huh?” Natasha asked, not moving a muscle from the counter. Loki stood straighter, staring down at her from the bridge of his nose. “Like, trickster god, Norse deity Loki?” She grinned, resting her chin in her palm. “So, what’s your real name?” 

He leaned down so that his face was perfectly aligned to hers. “One and the same,” he said in a dangerous, lilting whisper. 

The thrill of it sent a shiver down Natasha’s spine, achieving the exact opposite of his desired effect. “And he’s Thor,” she said. “Interesting.” 

“Very,” Loki agreed. Tony joined her at the counter as the voices of Clint and Thor chatted away. Steve and Bruce had wandered off to flip through an astrology book. They laughed in good nature as they compared it to each other, teasing the other. 

“How much for a cold reading?” Tony asked nonchalantly. 

Loki cracked his knuckles. The sharp smile that slid across his face was met with a warning glare from Thor. The blonde cleared his throat a few times, staring. “Really, how much?” Tony asked, not picking up anything unusual. 

Natasha kicked Tony in the shin, hiding it from Loki. 

“Tony,” Natasha said, completely oblivious to the looks Loki and Thor were exchanging, as if she couldn’t see them. 

Tony shrugged. “We’re here, right? Might as well have some fun.” He leaned his hip against the counter. “God, I hope this is the placebo Clint needs.” 

“Lay off Clint, alright?” She twisted her lips to the side, light slipping along her dark lipstick. “Twenty percent of people say they’ve seen a ghost, doesn’t that count for something?” 

Tony had read that. He’d given her the article. “Yeah, and fourteen percent of people think they’ve seen a UFO, and five have seen a monster under their bed…” Natasha nodded her head to the side with a sigh.

She tucked her hands inside her hoodie pockets. “When I was growing up in Russia, where I lived some people believed in Rusalka. They were sort of like a mermaid, or a ghost,” she said. Natasha freed one hand to push her red hair back inside her hoodie. “They drown people sometimes.” She frowned, her gaze drifting away from Tony. She fixated on a wind chime hanging from the ceiling. “The first week of June, that’s when they’re supposed to be most dangerous. We weren’t supposed to go swimming, or near the water, and I…I didn’t really believe in that. I was a child, but I didn’t believe in fairy tales.” The color in her face drained just perceptibly. “I went down to the water’s edge. Maybe to prove I could. …And I saw something.” 

Natasha didn’t say it gleefully. She didn’t seem like she wanted to be saying it at all. Tony had never heard her bring it up once. He didn’t like the way her eyes looked. “It could’ve been a person,” Tony said.

Natasha shook her head. “It wasn’t,” she said simply. 

She was making him uncomfortable. “You were young—” Tony started. Abruptly, he remembered that he’d been trying to talk to Loki and forgot what he was saying. 

The man was watching him as if he’d been a part of the conversation all along. “Thirty,” Loki said. Tony reached around to his back pocket for his wallet. “Or,” Loki said, his voice taking on a lyrical quality, “you could play a little game?” 

“Yeah?” Tony asked, immune to the peculiar feeling emanating from the slender being. 

Loki leaned down against the counter, balancing his chin on his hand in a perfect imitation of Natasha. “Nothing, really,” he said. “Just a little magic show.” 

Tony raised his eyebrow. “I thought this was where all the hipsters came to cover up the smell of their pot,” he said. “Now you're telling me it’s a real magic shop?” 

“For a skeptic like you, it should be no problem. I will perform a trick, and if you can tell me how I did it, I’ll give you anything in this shop.” He was smug even as he was malicious. “The statue by the door is worth a thousand.” 

Natasha grinned at Tony. “He _is_ the trickster god,” she said playfully. 

“And what if I lose?” Tony asked, as cocky as ever. 

“Then you have to worship me.” 

“Aww, buddy,” Tony said, “you are so not my type. Okay, clearly, I was wrong about my first guess, I—”

“Don’t be so crass,” Loki said smoothly. “You are not up to my standards either.” 

Natasha muffled a laugh as Tony’s mouth dropped open. Loki drummed his fingers against his jaw. “All I ask is that you kneel before me and call me a god. Now, is that so hard?” 

Tony lifted his chin up as he threw his answer back. “I want that statue gift wrapped. And sent express mail, to Antarctica, and back.” 

“Fine,” Loki said. He cracked his neck, making a bone crunching sound. He pointed to the ceiling. “You may inspect for any devices that you like,” he said. 

“Great,” Tony said. 

Loki smiled indulgently at him before extending his hands in front of him. Tony stared at the gap between his hands, expecting something. _BANG!_

Tony screamed and spun around, just in time to see the cloud of smoke dissipating from a three foot tall dragon. It snarled and hissed, its red tongue flashing as it took a step towards Tony. “Tha— _what the hell is that_?” Tony demanded, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his face before his rational brain caught up with him. The dragon took another step towards him, growling and snapping. Its scaly flesh seemed utterly real, its sound and scent unmistakable, loud and sulfuric. 

“Loki,” Thor warned, not at all alarmed by the miniature dragon in their shop. It vanished instantly. 

Tony took quick, heavy breaths, trying to talk himself down from what could easily turn into an anxiety attack. He looked at Natasha, but it didn’t seem as if she’d seen anything at all. No one in the shop was reacting except for Thor, and once he’d given Loki a particularly stern look he was right back to being sunny with Clint. Only Loki seemed to recognize that something was amiss. 

He smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Well?” 

Tony wiped a hand across his forehead. “Nat, did you see that?” He asked. 

She smiled for a second like he was joking with her, but then the smile dropped. “Ha-ha, Tony. Very funny.” Tony’s eyebrows furled above his eyes. He looked back where the dragon had been. 

This time there was a tiny tissue paper ghost hanging from the ceiling with a smiley face drawn on it in black marker. “You—” Tony said, pointing a finger at Loki. 

“Tell me how I did it or pay up,” Loki said, smirking. 

“A—a string that’s connected behind the counter and—Nat, didn’t you hear me scream?” Tony asked, frantically trying to fit the pieces together. "There was a—a—" She frowned to the side of her mouth. 

“Tony,” she said, digging her hands in her hoodie and pulling the hood tight. “You can drop the act.” The toes of her sneakers lifted from the floor as she rocked her feet. "Now you're being kind of rude." She turned back towards the counter and pretended to be deeply interested in a set of stones beneath the glass. 

Tony looked at Loki, mouth slightly parted. Loki folded his hands beneath his chin, waiting. “You lost.” 

“That—that was—I’ll figure it out,” Tony said. “You’ve probably got some sort of hallucinogenic in this place—” He shivered as he heard the growl of the dragon, and smelt sulfur on the air. 

“Shall I demonstrate again?” 

Tony held his hands up. “Fine, whatever,” he said, rolling his eyes as dramatically as he could. He dropped to the floor for a split second, standing again the moment his knees hit the floor. “God. There you go weirdo—” The words fell from Tony’s mouth as he caught the look on Loki’s face. He was positively basking, eyes somewhere else as something, something Tony couldn’t name and didn’t want to acknowledge danced all around him. Loki soaked it in a few moments before returning as though nothing had happened. 

“Would you like to see those?” Loki asked Natasha. 

She looked up from the case. “They’re…” She read the label. “Rune stones? Do those work?” 

“They’re an amusing modern invention,” Loki said. “But I suppose so, if you know what you’re doing.” Natasha tilted her head to the side, thinking.

Tony swallowed hard. Steve and Bruce walked up to them. “Hey, listen to this, it sounds just like you,” Steve said, showing Tony the book they’d been reading. He read Tony’s horoscope. 

Tony faked a laugh, all too aware of the way Loki was watching him from the corner of his eye. “I’m buying it,” Steve said. Tony noticed that Bruce was buying something too. 

“Lavender helps you calm down and sleep,” Bruce said to the look Tony was giving the incense in his hand. 

“I’m going to go sit in the car,” Tony said. The bell rang behind him. 

Steve shook his head. “Tony,” he muttered. Natasha was buying a set of stones, and as Loki rang her up at the cash register, Clint joined them with Thor. 

“Call back if those don’t work,” Thor said. Clint had a brown paper bag in one hand and a couple of books in the other. “If it is a persistent problem Loki can take care of it.” Clint nodded his head. 

“Thanks,” he said. 

They left the shop in a bright mood, piling back into the car and teasing Tony about chickening out. He snarked back at them, but when the car pulled from the lot, he was relieved. Later he'd rationalize the experience, but not now. 

“…you should not have done that,” Thor said, straightening a stack of books and sticking them back on the shelf. 

“It was only a little fun,” Loki said. “And he certainly deserved a few tricks.” 

Thor finished putting back the books he’d moved while making selections with Clint. “He will always remember that,” Thor said. 

“Does Father dearest not wish for us to retrieve worship?” Loki asked innocently. 

Thor made a disagreeing humming sound and went over to restock herbs. “Surely there are less…deceitful ways,” he said. 

Loki’s face lit up sarcastically. “Yes.” Loki said. “Perhaps we should integrate one of their modern ways. Why don’t we make a movie?”

Thor made his best attempt at silent disapproval as he rearranged a row of herbs.

**Author's Note:**

> I love hearing people's personal supernatural stories, so I thought it'd be fun to give Tony one of his own and play around a bit. Thanks for reading! (and don't worry about Clint, it all worked out for him, and Tony _mysteriously_ stopped teasing him about it)
> 
> _This fic is only available on aO3 and cannot be posted, duplicated, or copied anywhere else._


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